Abu Dhabi crown prince brings 60-member delegation to Greece

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited Athens on Oct. 22 with an Emirati delegation of about 60 people, Proto Thema said in a news report.

The agenda links diplomacy to investments already in place as of the Oct. 22 report, led by Masdar’s TERNA Energy acquisition at a €3.2 billion enterprise value. Enterprise value means equity value plus net debt; the deal is about 21 times DAMAC’s planned €150 million initial data-centre budget, according to Atlas360 calculations.

Mitsotakis was expected to meet the crown prince at the Maximos Mansion, the Greek prime minister’s office, as Athens seeks to respond to developments around the Turkey-Libya maritime agreement, according to the report.

Proto Thema said Libya’s parliament had ratified the Turkey-Libya maritime agreement and that Greece had reacted through the European Union. The report said Greece, Egypt, Israel and Cyprus have expressed concern about the issue.

Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis welcomed Sheikh Khaled at the airport on Wednesday, the report said. A Greek-Emirati business forum was scheduled for midday Thursday at The Ilisian hotel in Athens, with representatives of major Greek companies also expected to attend.

The economic agenda builds on several existing Emirati investments in Greece. Masdar, the Abu Dhabi renewable-energy company, acquired TERNA Energy in what Proto Thema described as one of the largest Emirati investments in the country.

DAMAC has partnered with Greece’s Public Power Corporation to develop a data centre in Spata, near Athens, with an initial investment budget of €150 million, the report said. Mubadala also has investments in Greece, including in aquaculture.

The report also cited a €4 billion investment partnership involving Abu Dhabi-based ADQ. In 2022, ADQ signed a memorandum of understanding with the Hellenic Development Bank to create a framework for investment cooperation in Greece.

The diplomatic backdrop is a Greece-UAE relationship that already includes a defence cooperation agreement with a mutual assistance clause, similar to one in Greece’s agreement with France, according to Proto Thema. That gives the relationship a security dimension alongside energy, infrastructure and investment links.

Athens’ message to Ankara and eastern Libya, according to the report, is that Greece will not accept attempts to create faits accomplis at its expense through actions it considers contrary to international law. Proto Thema said the Greek government had secured a common position from all 27 EU member states after diplomatic contacts by Mitsotakis and Gerapetritis.

The report did not give the text of the planned Greek-Emirati memorandums or specify the sectors they cover. It said the visit’s agenda includes signing bilateral memorandums of cooperation between the two governments.

The Greek-Emirati business forum at The Ilisian hotel in Athens was scheduled for midday Oct. 22. The checkable outcome is whether companies or officials identify further investment sectors, projects or financing commitments.

The visit agenda also included bilateral memorandums of cooperation on Oct. 22. The public test is whether the two governments disclose signed texts and specify the sectors covered.

Mitsotakis’ meeting with Sheikh Khaled on Oct. 22 is also a diplomatic marker. Any official readout would show how Greece frames UAE ties alongside its EU-backed response to the Turkey-Libya maritime agreement.